The folder opened with a soft snap.
Brooke stared at Reid, waiting for him to explain why hearing the name Trevor Madsen had drained the color from his face.
Inside were clipped pages, transaction diagrams, copies of financial records, and several photographs turned facedown.
Reid immediately angled the folder away from the aisle so nobody nearby could make out the details.
“Before I show you anything,” he said, “I need to understand exactly what happened to you.”
Brooke’s pulse began climbing.
“You already know him.”
Reid hesitated.
“I know his name.
That’s not the same thing.”
“Then why is it in your folder?”
He looked toward Lily sleeping against Brooke’s chest and lowered his voice.
“Because for several months I’ve been tracing money connected to a financial compliance investigation.
Trevor’s name appeared in records that were never supposed to lead back to one person.”
Brooke almost laughed, not because anything was funny, but because the statement made so little sense beside the Trevor she knew.
Trevor complained about grocery bills.
Trevor criticized her for ordering takeout twice in one week.
Trevor once lectured her for twenty minutes because she had forgotten to cancel a streaming subscription.
“You’re talking about the wrong Trevor.”
“Trevor Madsen.
Dallas.
Married approximately five years?”
Her mouth went dry.
“Yes.”
Reid turned one page toward her.
Most identifying details were obscured beneath his hand, but she recognized a familiar sequence of numbers.
The last four digits of their joint account.
Brooke stopped breathing.
“Where did you get that?”
“Records connected to transfers we’re reviewing.”
“Transfers?”
Reid nodded.
“Your account wasn’t simply emptied two days ago.
Money had been moving through it long before that.”
Brooke shook her head immediately.
“No.
I checked our account.”
“You checked the balance.”
The distinction landed harder than she expected.
Trevor had handled taxes.
Trevor had insisted on electronic statements.
Trevor had told her their savings were smaller than expected because the mortgage, insurance, medical bills, and Lily’s expenses were rising.
Whenever Brooke asked to sit down together and review everything, he became wounded.
Don’t you trust me?
After enough repetitions, she had stopped asking.
Reid tapped a line on the page.
“Small transfers.
Reversals.
Payments routed out and replaced before statement dates.
Individually, most wouldn’t attract attention.
Together, they form a pattern.”
Brooke stared at him.
“Are you saying Trevor stole from me?”
“I’m saying you should not assume what happened this week started this week.”
The plane seemed suddenly too small.
Brooke looked down at Lily.
